a.n. I finally got this chapter finished and posted before my self-imposed deadline was up. This is the chapter that I was promising you guys a while ago. I know I had a few filler chapters in between but hopefully those built up enough tension and suspense to have you all looking forward to this one.

While I had been anticipating this chapter for a while, practically since I began writing it, it was still hard to write. I knew how I wanted things to go down (more or less), but I still had to get there. Especially one particular part at the end. The drama-/tension-building was the hard part since it had to sound realistic and I hope I did it justice.

As always, please read, review, and enjoy! I look forward to reading your comments!

Chapter 13: Let the Storm Rage On

It was silent as Elsa stared at the two men before her. The presence of her father had startled her and she struggled to maintain control of her emotions. She hadn't been expecting him to come. She had wanted to be alone until she was sure she would be able to face her estranged parents calmly, completely in control of herself and her emotions. Their reappearance in her life, and the strained history they shared, made it difficult for her to face them again without the kind of control she wanted, the kind of control she needed, before they embarked on the long, arduous task of reconnecting with one another. She had hoped to return to Arendelle fully in control and fully able to deal with whatever it was her parents had to say. Now though…now she wasn't sure she was prepared for the inevitable confrontation. So she did what she always did.

She turned and ran, shutting the door behind her.

The slam of the crystalline doors before them startled the duo standing on the stoop. Kristoff had been prepared for such a reaction; after all, if he had learned anything from being around her this last year it was that Elsa tended to resort to running away or shutting herself off from the world and everyone when she was scared or stressed. Her actions now were not surprising.

Erik, however, could only look sadly at the place he had last seen his eldest daughter. He knew that his coming here would be hard for her, that in all likelihood, she would refuse to see him, ignore his attempts to talk, disregard his pleas for forgiveness. He couldn't fault her for that; he expected the anger, the tears, the look of hurt in her eyes. He knew he deserved all of it and more for what he had done to her, what he had put her through for all of those years. He knew this task wouldn't be easy; he had expected that.

What he hadn't expected was for Elsa to turn away and run. He had wanted her to lash out at him in justified anger. For her to turn a cold shoulder and run, barely giving him an agonized glance as she shut the door behind her, it hurt him more than anything. He'd had a hope of reconciliation with his daughter; now, her forgiveness seemed a long way off. If he was to have any expectation of a reunion with her and bringing his family back together, it seemed as if he would have to make the first move. He turned towards his companion.

"Thank you for bringing me here, Kristoff, but I think it might be best if I go talk to her alone." The mountain man was about to argue with him but stopped himself. Whatever tension there happened to be between Elsa and her father needed to be resolved. That could be better accomplished if they were alone. He nodded and stepped to the side and Erik came forward, a grateful look on his face. As he went to open the door, Kristoff placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder causing the older man to look at him. The ice harvester gave the former king his most encouraging smile. "I'll just wait here." He pointed to the steps. "Just in I'm needed." Erik acknowledged his statement with a nod and tentatively pushed open the door.

Once he disappeared inside, Kristoff turned around and took a seat on the step. He might as well make himself comfortable. After all, it wasn't the first time he was left to wait outside here while personal matters were resolved inside. Knowing how that last confrontation ended, he would make himself available in case things escalated. He really hoped he wouldn't have to intervene this time. He still got nightmares sometimes, seeing Anna like that and the look of horror on Elsa's face when she realized what she'd done. That had nearly torn Elsa apart. If the same thing were to happen now…he shuddered to think what that would do to her. He sighed and looked back towards the door.

"One. Two. Three. Four…"

As she heard the satisfying slam of the door behind her, Elsa made her way back to the staircase. She knew she shouldn't have shut them out like that. They had only came to check up on her, to make sure she was all right after leaving them with no warning. She had thought she was past all of this, that she had moved on from her past. Yet here she was, falling back on old habits and shutting people out again.

It had to stop. She wanted it to stop; she just didn't know if she could. Especially now.

She didn't know what it was that her father had come to tell her, but she did know that he couldn't be here yet. She wasn't ready to face him. She wanted to talk to him, to hear him out. She really did. But her emotional state was still fragile and she was afraid of what would happen if she were to confront him. She had to shut him out now, if only for a little while. She needed just a little more time to rein in her emotions, to gather her thoughts, before she took that final step towards reconciliation and forgiveness.

The sound of a door gently opening and closing echoed behind caused her to whirl around in surprise. When she saw her father standing at the entrance, her icy blue eyes grew wide in fright and she took off up the staircase.

"Elsa! Wait!" Erik took off after his daughter, carefully trying not to slip on the slippery surface. He followed her up the stairs, pleading with her to stop, to give him the chance to talk. The click of her shoes and the echo of her steps was her only response. As much as it continued to hurt him that she'd rather avoid him than talk, he doggedly pursued her, not wanting to give her the chance to escape again.

Elsa could hear her father behind her and she purposely avoided looking back. If she did so, she knew that she would find hurt and regret in his eyes that would cause her steps to falter. She wouldn't be able to bear the look of sorrow in his eyes. Her emotional hold was too tenuous, too fragile for her to face him now. So she kept running up the stairs into the upper recesses of her ice palace. She was struck with a sense of déjà vu as she fled and she tried not to dwell on how eerily reminiscent this was from last year's incident.

Her mind on auto-pilot, Elsa's feet tread a familiar path and, without thinking, she opened up a set of double doors and rushed in. She only stopped when she noticed the icy fragments that littered the floor. Her thoughts elsewhere, her subconscious had directed her here and she found herself in the one room she had desperately wanted to avoid at all costs, the one room that conjured up so many memories she'd rather forget.

She turned abruptly on her heel, hoping to get away from that room as quickly as possible, but she found her path blocked by the very man she was trying to avoid. Her father stood just inside the double doors, preventing her from escaping. Her eyes, already filled with fear, now displayed panic as they surveyed the room, searching for an alternate escape route.

Erik made a move to step towards his daughter, but at her panicked look, he stopped. There was a sense of desperation about her as he watched her eyes flit to and fro. As much as he wanted to talk, to get things resolved, her well-being was more important and he knew that she'd have to calm down before they would be able to talk things out. He could already feel the chill in the air and he watched the ice creep slowly up the walls out of the corner of his eyes. He focused on the young woman in front of him as he spoke, his eyes never leaving her face.

"Elsa, sweetheart, please hear me out." The temperature dropped lower and he shuddered slightly, but he would not be deterred. "I know you're hurting. I know you must be upset. And for that I am truly, deeply sorry. I just need to talk to you. Please." He noticed the ice had stopped its ascent and the temperature had stabilized. He watched her turn her head towards him. She was no longer panicked, but there was still a hint of fear and uncertainty in those blue eyes, eyes now clouded by emotion. He took a tentative step forward and was pleased that she didn't try to run from him. One by one, his steps brought him closer and closer to her until finally, he was right in front of her. He wanted to reach out to her, to stroke her hair as he had once upon a time when she was younger and came to him for comfort whenever she was scared. He wanted to hold her tight against him, protecting her from all harm as he had done whenever she had come running to him, tears streaming down her face. He wanted to whisper soothing words to her, letting her know that he would always be there to love and protect her as he had done every night since the day she was born. He wanted to do all of those things to show and to tell her how truly sorry he was and how much he loved her.

Before he could, Elsa took a step back and brought her arms up to hug herself. She cast her eyes downward as the two of them stood in silence. After a moment, she tilted her head back up and looked at him. He had followed her here, chased after her, and was now staring at her, waiting for her to make the next move. She nodded and she watched as he noticeably relaxed.

It took a moment before Erik could begin. He didn't exactly know where to start. There were a lot of things he knew he had to say to her, so he might as well start at the beginning.

"We never meant to hurt to hurt you, Elsa. We only ever wanted to keep you safe." Elsa stayed silent. "When we first found out about your powers, we were frightened, but not of you. Neither of us had ever seen anything like it and we were scared that if word about what you could do got out, it would panic the populace." He saw Elsa tense and he tried to reassure her. "You were small and your powers weren't really that developed so you could never hurt anyone. But we knew that not all of the people would be that understanding, so we tried to hide your powers from those outside the castle. We never wanted to deny you that part of yourself; it was definitely an adjustment and we just wanted to give everyone a chance to get to know you for you, not to fear you for your abilities." He anxiously reached out to place a hand on her shoulder and when she didn't shake it off, his confidence grew. "When Anna was born, you never could get enough of her. You were always the doting big sister, never wanting her out of your sight, always trying to play with her, and whenever she was crying, it was you more often than not who managed to calm her down. When she didn't develop the same powers you did, yes, we did breathe a sigh of relief. We loved you and everything about you, but we knew that as you got older, it would start to be more of a burden for you. We were glad that she would never have to go through that the way you would have to. That didn't stop you from loving her though. The fact that you two were so different never seemed to matter to either of you. You loved her and she loved you and you would do anything to see her happy, to protect her from all harm."

Elsa gave a little sniffle and Erik took his chance. He stepped closer and pulled her into a hug. Elsa tensed at first but after a minute, she gave in and Erik could feel her arms wrap around his chest. He squeezed her back reassuringly and stroked her hair.

They remained like that for a moment before Elsa pulled back and stared up into her father's warm eyes. She was reminded of all those times when she was younger and she was scared and she would run to her father's strong arms. He always made her feel safe, as if nothing could ever hurt her. She felt that way now and it was something she hadn't felt in such a long time. It felt good. He smiled at her and she smiled back.

"She absolutely loved it when you would show off for her and you could never say no to her. If she wanted to go ice skating in the palace, you would create an ice rink just for her. If she wanted to throw snowballs, you would make sure that she had all of the snow she needed. If she wanted to build a snowman, you would help her out and watch as the smile on her face grew bigger. While we were worried about how your powers would grow, we could only watch in happiness as the two of you grew closer and you were both happy. We couldn't ask for anything more. But then…" Erik's face grew worried as he watched her face pale and she grew stiff in his arms. He dropped his arms and she stepped back.

"Then she had her accident and everything changed." Elsa's words were whispered, but her father still managed to hear the hurt in them. He reached out again to hug her sorrow away but she stepped further back and turned around, away from him. He could only stand there as she began to pace the room, her walk anxious and purposeful at the same time. She suddenly stopped and turned to look at him, the sadness evident in her eyes. "I had to stay away from her, from anyone, while my powers grew stronger. I panicked at the thought that someone could get hurt again because I wasn't able to control them. I barely saw her, I barely saw anyone, I couldn't leave the palace." Elsa's words grew louder and more forceful with every statement. Erik could tell that she was growing more emotional with every step and he made the attempt to calm her down.

"Elsa, I…" He was cut off by a sudden icy blast that just passed by his right side. He turned, startled, and looked to see a dozen tiny icicles embed themselves in the wall behind him. Turning back around, he could see that Elsa was just as surprised as he was and the fear had returned. She walked further away from him and Erik could see that she was attempting to calm herself down.

"For all intents and purposes, I was locked away. Alone. Always to be alone. I could never face the people as I was, I could never face Anna again or tell her the truth. My entire childhood I was scared and I had no one to turn to, no one who would accept me for who I was. No one. I had to hide myself away because I had to hide away a part of myself. Even from you." She turned hurt, accusing eyes to her father.

"We never wanted that to happen, Elsa. We loved you. We were just…"

"Scared! I know. You already said that." Erik tried not to look hurt by Elsa's words, no matter how true they were. By this point, the temperature in the room had dropped even more and Erik could definitely see the walls freezing with fresh ice. A small snow flurry had begun to form and the sudden wind was beginning to chill him.

"I was just as scared, you know. I didn't know why I had these powers or why they were so out of control. How could I control something when I didn't know how it worked? All I wanted was to be normal, to be out of my room and the castle, to have fun with my sister again. Just to be normal. But I couldn't have that, any of it, because I had to stay locked up, because you were scared. Of me."

"Elsa, sweetheart, that's not tr…"

"It is. Don't tell me you weren't afraid that I might hurt you one day." His prolonged silence was confirmation enough for her and the storm in the room grew stronger. Her emotions were running high and she was quickly losing control. "You thought I was a monster and didn't know what else to do with me so you locked me away. I was just a scared little girl who only wanted to be loved and accepted. Why couldn't I have that?" The storm was now a full-blown blizzard that raged and swirled around the pair as Elsa's own emotions raged and swirled within her. The flurries battered the walls and rattled the doors, threatening to burst forth from the room.

There was an eerie silence as the storm suddenly stopped and a large, angry blast of ice burst forth from the scared young woman standing just within the blizzard's outskirts, striking and freezing solid everything around it within seconds, including the solitary figure that stood firm within the eye of the storm, a remorseful look on his face.

Kristoff looked up when he heard the rattling and raging coming from the palace behind him. Looking towards the balcony, he saw bits of the storm raging within as stray snowflakes and ice shards floated down towards him. The wind inside howled and whistled and it set even his nerves on end. Gasping, he jumped up and pulled open the door, not concerning himself with the loud bang it made when it slammed shut. He ran up the stairs two at a time hoping he wasn't too late.

Again.